 "Photo: Rob Simpson")
Any student that is taking the veterinary technician courses at Medaille has probably noticed the ratio of women to men in the program.
In this year alone, the vet tech program at Medaille is being taken by an overwhelming 92% women, according to Pat McDonald, Director of Institutional Research and Planning.
In fact, in the past three years the statistics have been similar. In 2008, there were 93% women in the program. In 2007 there were 92%.
Given the fact that men have only made up a consistent 7-8% of students in the vet tech program for the past three years, some may wonder why there is such a significant difference.
One freshmen student in the vet tech program, Christine Lauer, holds a strong belief that men are following the expectations of society. “In society, it’s considered a woman’s job to be the caretaker… same as in hospitals… (there are) few male nurses,” she said.
Christine’s notion is reflected in many other female students’ opinions, including Camielle Damon, who believes “that people see being a vet tech like being a nurse. Most people think being a nurse is a girl’s job.”
Likewise, Angela Vitalone believes that “women tend to be more caring than men. They have the mothering nature to them and that’s why it’s the same as in the nursing field.”
It appears that there is a feeling among some Medaille students that society still believes being a vet tech is like being a nurse for animals.
Dr. Pete Freyburger, a member of the Board of Trustees, carries thoughts on this topic very similar to that of the students. As a veterinarian himself, he believes that vet tech programs have always been similar to nursing programs. As a result, female students have always been more common.
“As strange as it sounds, the ratio of male to female veterinary technicians may actually have increased slightly over the years,” said Freyburger.
Despite this occurrence, both vet techs in training and in the profession are by and large female. According to Dr. Freyburger, this may be because “females have a stronger genetic drive to nurture than males.”
The opinions of the female faculty in the program are similar.
Dr. Stephanie Westerman, who is the program director for the A.S. veterinary technology Degree program, said that “although both men and women nurture, it is traditional that more women than men enter fields where nurturing is a strong component.”
The question that has been asked to those at Medaille is not confined to our community, though. That same question is raised in not only the female dominated veterinary technician program, but also in the veterinarian profession as a whole.
According to www.anapsid.org, nearly 75% of the nation’s 9,276 veterinarian students are female. The number of female veterinarians in the United States has more than doubled since 1991, while the number of male veterinarians has fallen 15%.
The article states that, “women choose a career they feel passionate about. Men love animals, but they feel the obligation to support a family.”
According to Dr. Stephanie Wong, a veterinary epidemiologist for the Navy in San Diego, “Vets are people with medical degrees without the medical income.”
One reason men decide against becoming veterinarians may be because “the expectation today is that if the men do not provide the full household income, they should at least provide the major part of it,” according to Deborah Nord, the director of Princeton’s program in the study of women and sexual differences.
Another reason that veterinary medicine is more popular among women may be due to the flexibility in scheduling that allows them to “get the satisfaction out of their jobs without sacrificing their personal lives,” the article continues.
According to Dr. Freyburger, prior to the 1970s, there were vastly more male veterinarians than female, but there has been a shift recently, making females the majority.
“Veterinary medicine evolved from an agricultural background and that brute strength was more important than it is today,” he said. “I don’t suspect that the large shift within the veterinary field to primarily female veterinarians has had a significant influence in the vet tech world.”
Dr. Freyburger believes that the female to male ratio of veterinarians grew due to the change in the profession, while vet techs have always been primarily female. However, as he admits, “more and more vet tech students are using their education as a stepping stone to veterinary college, which is an option that probably did not exist more than 15 years or so ago.” As a result, the consistent lack of males in the vet tech program may be part of the reason there are few male veterinarians as well.
In this light, Medaille College can be seen as a microcosm – a reflection of the number of females rising within the veterinary field.
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